Free diving feat

Bristol graduate Sara Campbell (BA 1995) sent British free diving records into free fall last month when she became the first woman in history to take all three deep free diving records.

Bristol graduate Sara Campbell (BA 1995) sent British free diving records into free fall last month when she became the first woman in history to take all three deep free diving records.

At the event in Dahab, Egypt, Sara added 12 metres to the free immersion record with a dive of 62 metres. She also added 11 metres to the constant weight record, which now stands at 65 metres – exceeding the current men’s record by two metres.

Sara also triumphed at her UK debut. She secured the ‘women's winner trophy’ at the UK national freedive championships on 28 and 29 July in Chepstow. She is now training hard for the qualification for the World Championships, which will be held in Egypt in October. If Sara manages to reach the same depths during this competition then she would be one of the top ten women in the world in all three disciplines and third in the world at free immersion.

Free diving requires you to dive underwater while holding a single breath of air. The deep free diving disciplines are Constant Weight, Constant Weight No Fins and Free Immersion. The term 'constant weight' refers to the fact that the divers wear weights to help them descend, but they have to return to the surface with the same amount of weight. During ‘free immersion’ divers pull themselves down a rope and back up again using only their arms.